Hanne Darboven

Biography of Hanne Darboven

Hanne Darboven (born 1941 in Munich, DE; died 2009) was a Hamburg-based German conceptual artist celebrated for her large-scale, minimalist installations. According to self-imposed rules, the artist focused on the thematic concept of time and the course of history. She used the calendar as a conceptual basis for her art, using dates and periods of time as the backbone of her works (for instance, One Month, One Year, One Century, 1971). On thousands of sheets of paper conceived as serial works she obsessively noted sequences of text and numerals, often combined with visual documents reflecting her own biography, contemporary history, or cultural phenomena. Her self-described “mathematical literature” can start with significant dates, historical events or instead focus in on the everyday.

 

The wide range of themes within her body of work and the wealth of her photographic material lends Hanne Darboven’s work the essence of a visual encyclopedia of our time. She has been featured in countless exhibitions in Germany and abroad, such as at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg and the Dia Center for the Arts in New York City. She was also exhibited at documenta 5, 6, 7 and 11 and represented Germany at the 40th Venice Biennale.

Available Works: 1